Wednesday, November 21, 2001

Internet access prioritized to manage network traffic
By Jordan Blum
Staff Reporter

Information Services officials said TCU has no plans to curb annual bandwidth additions but will reshape budget strategies if bandwidth prices begin to rise.

The amount of bandwidth available directly affects how fast the connection will be between a single computer user and the network or Internet.

As applications and documents become larger and demand more and more space, universities around the nation are finding their networks quickly reaching saturation points despite constant upgrades. TCU is no exception, officials said, as the university continues to double its bandwidth annually.

While not looking to cap bandwidth or block Internet sites, TCU is looking at giving priority to certain uses of the network.

Dave Edmondson, assistant provost for Information Services, said even though students continue to use up bandwidth very quickly, he never wants to cap bandwidth because maintaining a strong Internet connection is crucial to the success of the university.

“No matter how much bandwidth we get, students will automatically use it up within two or three days,” Edmondson said. “But, I continue to see us adding more bandwidth because it’s a top priority for the education mission of the university.”

William Senter, technical services manager, said Information Services tries to purchase more bandwidth every six months to a year, but even bigger increases occurred this year due to cheaper prices. He said the network went from 12 megabits per second in August to 24 megabits and is now up to 45 megabits per second.

Edmondson said adding Web enhancements, such as allowing alumni to donate money to the university over the Internet, will continue to force the need for network growth. If Information Services ever needs to save money, cuts would never be made on network upgrades, he said.

“The Internet is the university’s life force,” Edmondson said. “It’s how potential students, potential faculty and potential donors find out about the university. I can’t cut that, or we’re going to die. We’re going to go out of business.”

He said TCU spends approximately $240,000 annually on overall Internet improvements.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, many universities have had problems with network saturation despite yearly additions of bandwidth, which increases Internet network transmission speed. In one instance, the University of Pennsylvania chose to stop buying more bandwidth and decided to cut the bandwidth nearly in half and cap it at a set amount.

Michael Palladino, the associate vice president for networking at Pennsylvania, said network programs were not working properly due to overcrowding and students could not even use application and financial-aid programs on the university’s Web page, according to The Chronicle.

Edmondson said the bandwidth has to be aggressively managed through network shaping devices, which prioritize tasks to get more bandwidth access than others. He said first priority goes to classroom and research use and online games and music downloads receive less bandwidth.

Senter said TCU has had network saturation problems when students open too many applications simultaneously, but not to the extent of Pennsylvania.

“I don’t think we’re at that point yet,” he said. “At some point we could say we’re spending all this money on bandwidth, so we’re going to stand pat for a while and see if we can hang on. This is something we’d have to review if prices go up, but that doesn’t look like it will happen for the next year or two.”

But, Senter said, adding bandwidth is important and increases network speed as long as it is properly managed.

“Bandwidth is a building block and we need to grow into it,” Senter said. “But if we just keep adding bandwidth on top of more and not doing anything about it, then I’m concerned with it being a problem if students continue to peak out the network.”

Edmondson said he will not have to terminate use to any particular Web sites or programs because of more advanced network shaping technology now available. In Spring 2000, university officials blocked access to the Napster Web site and cited network congestion as one reason.

“Downloads may have to be slowed down for people during certain times of the day, but with new technologies we can restrict bandwidth use per-person rather than shut it off,” he said. “So there won’t be another Napster.”

Edmondson said the prioritizing of the network will continue to focus on education as new resources are added to the network.

“We don’t have every faculty member using technology in the classrooms yet, so we will continue to grow and have to upgrade bandwidth on an annual basis,” he said.

“Sometimes the network’s prioritization will work to the detriment of a single student, but it will always be for the betterment of the university.”

Jordan Blum
j.d.blum@student.tcu.edu